Multifuel plant shut even before launch

Put political meddling, red tape and negligence together, and what you get is a total fiasco, a quite usual happening in a government undertaking.

Here is an example.

A multifuel plant in Duhabi of Sunsari has been shut for the past one month — as a matter of fact it never came to operation. Those who know the matter say negligence on the part of the Nepal Electricity Authority and political interference led to closure of the plant, affecting the beneficiaries. Despite all the preparations to launch it, the plant downed its shutters after the NEA failed to reach power purchase agreement.

“Industries are closing down one by one due to acute power crisis, and in such a situation, a lack of seriousness on the part of the NEA has thwarted the operation of the multifuel plant,” said Industry Association Morang Chairperson Dinesh Golchha. “The private sector unit cancelled the project after the NEA did not show any interest in buying electricity from it.”

The plant, which was earlier dysfunctional, had come into operation partly after it was repaired by a Finnish company some months ago. But the plant has remained shut for the past one month.

The NEA has its own arguments though. Sources at the NEA said buying power generated from the plant round-the-clock would have caused more loss. “The power generated from the plant is costly and if the NEA had agreed to purchase electricity from there, we would have incurred heavy losses,” said an NEA engineer.

The 39-MW plant has never run in full capacity ever since its construction.